HL Deb 09 May 2001 vol 625 cc217-8WA
Earl Russell

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Blackstone on 1st May (WA 262–263), whether they will provide a breakdown of the 701,400 benefit sanctions referred to in that answer, by:

  1. (a) grounds for the sanction;
  2. (b) the extent of the sanction in terms of percentage of benefit lost; and
  3. (c) the duration of the sanction. [HL2066]

Baroness Blackstone

Sanction decisions are made following careful consideration of the evidence in each individual case. No two cases will be exactly the same, so the grounds for sanction will differ from case to case. It would not be possible, therefore, to detail those grounds for every one of over 700,000 sanctions. However, it is possible to break down the total number into the types of sanction which can occur. These are listed in the following table. The table shows the number of labour market sanctions imposed for each sanction type.

I am informed by colleagues in the Benefits Agency that statistics are not kept on the amount of benefit lost following the imposition of a sanction.

Statistics are not available on the exact length of each labour market sanction. Sanctions can be of a fixed or variable length, depending on the type of sanction. Fixed sanctions can last two weeks, or four weeks, or 26 weeks. Variable sanctions can last for any number of weeks between one week and 26 weeks. The table shows the length of sanction appropriate to each sanction type.

Type of sanction Length of sanction Number of sanctions imposed from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2000
Leaving employment vountarily variable 412,180
Losing employment through misconduct variable 83,108
Refusal of employment variable 74,233
Discharge from HM forces variable 33
Neglect to avail oneself of employment variable 610
Giving up a place on a training scheme/employment programme fixed 16,759
Losing a place on a training scheme/employment programme fixed 13,990
Refusing a place on a training scheme/employment programme fixed 4,021
Neglect to avail oneself of a place on a training/ employment programme fixed 4,898
Failure to attend a training scheme/employment programme fixed 76,175
Refusal/failure to carry out jobseeker's direction fixed 15,347
Total sanctions 701,354

Information on the numbers and types of decisions given by Employment Service decision makers on the full range of jobseeker's allowance labour market questions is published in the Analysis of Sector Decision Making, copies of which are held in the House of Lords Library.